M is for Millie
by Jelsemium
Summary: Another story from Numb3rs dot org's Summer 2007 Alphabet Challenge. This is about Millie's arrival at Cal Sci.
1. Chapter 1

M is for Millie

Yes, another story from the 2007 Alphabet Fiction Challenge. How'd you guess?

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.

Chapter 1

Academia is a community driven by communication… lectures, discussions, publications, correspondence, demonstrations. And the dark side of communications, of course… rumor, back stabbing, even slander and libel.

Mildred Ursula Finch was no stranger to any of the above. One did not become a department chair of a prestigious university without a thorough grounding in the fine art of politicking.

Therefore, she was less than surprise that the second thing she encountered at CalSci, right after the official, politically correct and overly jolly welcome, was an outpouring of gossip.

She spent the morning hearing about people...

Prof. Novich spent most of his paycheck on poker.

Prof. Eppes ditched class for consulting gigs.

Prof. Waldie played fantasy baseball on the super computer.

Prof. Eppes was a government spy. (Why he would be spying on CalSci was not explained.)

Prof. Fleinhardt was living in the steam tunnels.

One day Prof. Osaki was Going to Crack and Kill Everyone on Campus and Maybe Everyone in Pasadena as Well.

Prof. Eppes used _way_ too much hair product for a heterosexual male.

Initially, the rumor that concerned her the most, after the steam tunnels (which were not safe for habitation), was the one that claimed that the new hire, Amita Ramanujan, had slept her way to two doctorates.

If that were true, two of her professors would find themselves at the EDD, trying to apply for unemployment through their new dentures. If the rumor was false, then one of her associate professors needed some protection.

Millie tended to take these stories with a grain of salt the size of the Salt Palace in Saline, Texas. However, this story came from outside her department, and she didn't see how a philosophy teacher would have an ax to grind with a student who had never taken a class with her.

So Millie did research. She read all of Ramanujan's published works… both of her doctoral theses, her master's thesis, her collaborations with Eppes and Keppler, even the girl's college admission essay and her letters to the campus newspaper.

The more Millie read, the happier she became. Not only did Ramanujan have a voice that was very distinct from Eppes and Keppler, she was obviously a brilliant young woman with a bright career ahead of her. Just the sort of person Millie should mentor.

Millie shrugged off original rumor. However, she kept the rumor-monger filed away in her mental file of things that she needed to beware of.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The job proved to be even more of a bear than Millie had expected.

She expected big egos and bad work ethics. She wasn't quite prepared for Eppes obsession with FBI cases, Fleinhardt's obsession with staying homeless, or her own obsession with Eppes' father. (Osaki's obsession with toxins was, literally, not her department.)

She discussed Charlie's obsession with the FBI with her obsession… the charming and intelligent Alan Eppes.

"Honestly, Alan, can't you give me a hint about how to break him of the FBI habit?" she asked.

Alan laughed. "Did you happen to read about the shoot out at the FBI office?" he asked in return.

Millie blinked and cast her mind back. "You mean when some crazed gunman took a Fed hostage and blasted his way to the child molester?"

Alan nodded. "Charlie was there at the time," he said. "If that almost getting shot during a rampage didn't put him off from consulting, I doubt that there's anything you can do."

"Oh, rats," Millie muttered.

"My suggestion is to go with the flow," Alan said. "At the very least, the FBI consulting should be good publicity. Besides, it's also addicting. Larry was against it at first, but now he's almost as into it as Charlie."

"You like Fleinhardt, don't you?"

"I do. I have a lot of respect for the man, in spite of his eccentricities," Alan said. "He's helped Charlie through a lot of rough times."

Stupid people didn't get to be department chairs at prestigious universities. Millie took Alan's advice and ran with it. Like Fleinhardt, she found there was an intensely satisfying aspect to it.

But just when she thought she had a handle on things, Fleinhardt asked for a leave of absence to go jaunting into space.

Millie granted it. She understood his desire to go; after all, she had spent eighteen months in Antarctica on a similar personal quest.

Then came the official call questioning Fleinhardt's stability. Millie had to answer honestly. Fortunately, that hadn't caused Fleinhardt to be scratched from the mission.

It did, however, bring Millie's attention back to the horde of rumors that had greeted her arrival.

She paid a visit to the philosophy department.

"You know, Professor Wilson, at first I couldn't see why you would lie about Amita sleeping with Eppes and Keppler," she said.

Professor Wilson snorted. "That little…"

Millie held up her hand. "She's an intelligent, hard working woman," she said. "And you don't care if she sleeps with Eppes or Keppler or both. You wanted to cause her problems because you thought she was sleeping with Fleinhardt."

Wilson scowled. "That little worm dumped me for…"

"No, he didn't," Millie said. "And while I love a piece of juicy gossip as much as the next girl, this venomous slander really has to stop."

Wilson looked at her incredulously. "Really? And how do you propose to stop me? You're not my department chair."

Millie smiled. "I could point out that the people you've chosen to attack are very popular among the staff and students here. I could point out that Charlie Eppes, Fleinhardt's protégé and Ramanujan's real sweetheart, is not only a Big Man on Campus, but has enough pull to get Fleinhardt put BACK on the shuttle mission in spite of your sabotage."

She placed her hands on Laurel Wilson's desk. "I could even point out the law suits that you've left yourself open to, because I can trace _all_ the emails that you sent."

She leaned forward. "But all I'm going to say is… I'm better at fighting dirty than you are. How do you think I got my job?"

She grinned like a shark. "Tell, me, Professor Wilson… Do.You.Feel.Lucky?"

The conversation faded to the back of her mind until Fleinhardt's welcome back party when somebody mentioned Laurel Wilson.

"I thought you two were friends?" Waldie asked Fleinhardt.

Fleinhardt shrugged. "I am afraid that we drifted apart," he said.

"I hear she wound up at the University of Nebraska," Amita said.

"Nebraska?" Charlie said.

"It's a state located on the Great Plains, Charlie," Alan said.

Charlie rolled his eyes. "I am actually pretty good at geography, Father," he replied. "I just wondered why she chose to move to Nebraska."

"Why not?" Millie said. "Nebraska is very philosophical. Especially during football season."

Alan's other son, Don, gave her a suspicious look, but the sharp eyed Fed was too savvy to say anything.

Millie smirked to herself.

It was good to be queen.


End file.
